Running a small business is stressful enough without worrying if your employees are stealing from you. A 2004 study by Payne, et al., published in the Journal of Criminal Justice, found that small-business owners who experienced employee theft were significantly more likely to be exhausted at the end of the day than those who did not. If you are lucky enough to find staff you trust, take steps to increase the odds that they will stick around. Turnover represents a significant cost -- one that small businesses cannot easily absorb -- making it even more critical to identify loyal, trustworthy employees from the outset.

Pre-Screening Tests

Pre-screening tools such as integrity tests have been shown to reduce theft and turnover by staggering amounts: 35 percent and 13 percent respectively, according to a 2006 study by Krohe. Include simple multiple choice personality tests and integrity screening tools as the first step of your online application to weed out unsuitable candidates before their application even reaches your desk. Be aware that an applicant may still be able to cheat the system by retaking the test until he passes, and some concern still exists about the validity of these tests as predictors of behavior.

Interview

Use the interview to ask more in-depth questions aimed at finding out if an employee will steal or leave the company prematurely. Overt questions such as "Where do you see yourself in five years?" are a fairly common staple of the interview and ones that an applicant might have prepared for. Ask the applicant to respond to various hypothetical situations or tell you about his past experiences to get a less-scripted answer. Find out how motivated the employee is to remain in the job. An employee who is extremely interested in the position as a career choice is more likely to stay than an employee who sees the job as a stop-gap on the way to something else.

Reference Checks

Based on the premise that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, reference checks help identify areas of concern in the candidate's prior work habits. Don't just accept the references the candidate wants to provide. Instead, require the applicant to provide at least one reference -- ideally his supervisor or manager -- for each job he held over a certain period of time, such as the last five years. The number of jobs in itself can give you a clue to the applicant's propensity for quick turnover. Carefully review the reasons the applicant said he left past employment and verify these with the applicable reference. A candidate who has been unfortunate enough to experience layoffs is different than someone who repeatedly tires of a job after a few months or who was fired for stealing. Due to fear of liability, employers sometimes provide only the most basic information -- name, rank and serial number -- about an employee. In this situation, ask the reference if the applicant is eligible for rehire. If the candidate is not eligible, this raises a red flag.

Background Checks

Verify the applicant's suitability for the position by conducting a thorough background check on his criminal history. Review only those offenses from which a conviction has resulted; don't consider the applicant's arrest record. A candidate with a history of petty theft, shoplifting and other theft-related crimes may be more likely to steal from an employer. Weigh factors such as the recency of the conviction, the number of convictions and the type of offense when considering whether to disqualify the applicant and be sure a clear nexus to the job exists. For example, an offense such as driving under the influence is probably not a concern for a cashier position but would disqualify the applicant from working as a delivery driver. Use a background checking company or refer the applicant to the local law enforcement office for fingerprinting if this service is offered in your state. Larger companies sometimes prefer to train a staff member to conduct background checks in house, and businesses occasionally use a private investigator service for particularly sensitive vacancies. Decide if the company will pay for the background check or if the cost will be the applicant's responsibility.

About the Author

For more than a decade, Tia Benjamin has been writing organizational policies, procedures and management training programs. A C-level executive, she has more than 15 years experience in human resources and management. Benjamin obtained a Bachelor of Science in social psychology from the University of Kent, England, as well as a Master of Business Administration from San Diego State University.